The Unified Soul

What's Next?

The sounds of children running throughout the halls rang against the walls with the sound of the final bell, signaling the end of the day and the beginning of their long awaited summer break. Papers were thrown on the floor, the janitor in the hallway already groaning at the thought of cleaning all the strewn assignments and papers after the school was empty. It was going to be a terrible back-aching mission, but then again, they were getting paid to clean and the bigger the mess, the more they would get paid.

The school, Phoenix Drop High school, although recently reopened, was very popular in the state. It was one of the only schools that integrated both human and werewolf culture, bringing a sense of balance and cultural appreciation. The school's curriculum required the students, human, werewolf, and Mei~Fwa, were required to take classes about the biology of the three species. The principal described it as a way for the next generation to better understand each other and improve specie bias amongst them. For the most part it worked, but positive effects don't happen overnight of course.

As the kids ran out of their classes and raced to get home and start their vacation, one girl was taking her time by the lockers, gathering her books and papers to stuff in her blue backpack. She smiled at the pictures on her locker door, reminiscing about the school days this past year, seeing all the smiling faces of the new friends she made through the semesters. The girl grabbed the pictures and settled them in her backpack, and just as she shut her locker door a voice called out her name.

"Airis!"

The girl turned around, her bright eyes widening as she watched a couple of her friends running down the hall to meet her before heading home. Airis was excited to see her friends even though she had several classes with them, one of them being her best friend since she was in middle school.

Three people made up her close circle of friends: A werewolf, a human and a Mei~Fwa.

The werewolf was a tall young man with messy blonde hair with a small braid hanging from the left side of his face. He walked behind the two others with his hands in his blue jean short pockets, his black shirt slightly disheveled and his red plaid shirt tied around his waist. His name was Marcus, a boy she met while her first year of middle school. He was slightly unapproachable, but Airis was about to break down his cold exterior with a smile and an offering of his favorite candy.

The only other girl in the group, a Mei~Fwa named Naysa, jumped onto Airis and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck in a tight hug. She had long black hair tied in a high ponytail flowing down her back with a bright pink streak in her bangs to match her color of the month. Naysa wanted hot pink to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation, so she put on her favorite hot pink outfit: A white shirt with loose sleeves, over the shoulder collar and a black corset that matched the black shorts she had with hot pink cat thigh-high stockings. She even had a pair of hot pink and black short boots to match the hot pink belts around her thighs. Airis had to admit, she had an interesting sense of fashion, but it was an expressive one. That's what Airis liked about her so much.

Finally, the human, a young man with a shy smile and a calm demeanor. His dark purple hair was combed neatly with a part to the right side of his face, a little bit of his hair falling over his green eyes. He walked with a straight back, a white shirt underneath his black and blue vest with dark blue jeans, black and white chucks and a belt around his waist with a small chain for aesthetic. This boy, Aiden, was Airis' oldest friend, being by her side since she was nine. They met in the park when she was playing by herself, and Airis noticed he was sitting on the swings alone. So, she went over to him and started pushing him on the swing. Unfortunately, that scared him and he jumped off the swing and landed in the dirt. As Airis tried to apologize, he just started laughing and commenting on how good she scared him. They laughed together and since then, they were stuck to each other's side like glue. It made their friendship stronger when she found out they were neighbors, just a block down the road from her house.